


you can buy your other friends (but you can't buy me)

by Lise



Series: Remember This Cold [39]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Light-Hearted, Loki being kind of a dick, Loki's a goddamn mess, M/M, a brief breath of fresh air before back to the drama, oh well that's okay, realized belatedly I left out most of the male agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 06:05:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4468190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lise/pseuds/Lise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It seems no one bothered to inform Phil Coulson that Loki was alive, on Earth, and in a relationship with Captain America.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you can buy your other friends (but you can't buy me)

**Author's Note:**

> A few of you asked about who shot Loki in "Collapse the Light Into Earth" - this fic answers that question, and also does what I've been trying to figure out how to do for a while, which is to say get Loki to meet the Agents of SHIELD folks. Because I'm just a sucker for character interactions. (Spoilers: they don't like each other very much.) 
> 
> A longer piece (bringing Age of Ultron into this 'verse) should hopefully be happening at some point in the near-ish future. I just started a new job, though, so it's hard to say exactly how that will play out. I'M WORKING ON IT. 
> 
> At any rate: for now, have this.

Loki did not open his eyes immediately when he woke up, pausing to take stock. His head ached, but he was not otherwise in pain, which ruled out a fairly sizeable number of possibilities. He was sitting upright, in what felt like a chair, hands locked together with a heavy chain and ankles chained as well. He could feel the itch of his magic being suppressed – not completely, but enough to be uncomfortable. Straining his ears, he could hear the low hum of machinery – perhaps an engine? - but he could not tell with any certainty what sort of machinery it might be.

Steve was not going to let him leave the apartment alone after this, Loki thought ruefully. He had scarcely been three blocks away. He remembered getting hit with some kind of dart – the same as before, perhaps? - that made his senses go dull, and then an electric charge…

And now he was here, wherever here was.

With his self-inventory complete, Loki let his eyes blink open. His cage was unremarkable, gray with peculiar hexagonal designs. Loki turned his head slowly and found the door. He could hear low voices through it, but not understand what they were saying.

Loki twitched his fingers, drawing slowly on what little magic he could reach like sipping through a straw, and waited.

It didn’t take all that long for the door to open. The woman who came in looked vaguely familiar, wavy blonde hair falling past her shoulders, and his quick scan showed no obvious emblem that suggested her allegiance. Not total fools, then. Loki searched his memories for the source of the recognition, but not finding it promptly he set the curiosity aside. For the moment, he let his eyebrows raise and held his silence.

“You’re Loki, right?” She asked, after a moment. Loki’s lips curled into a faintly patronizing smile.

“How embarrassing that would be for you if you were mistaken.”

She did not look amused. “We’re not mistaken.” She crossed her arms. “How long have you been back on Earth?”

Loki allowed his expression to be slightly pitying. “Really? Right to the questions. No attempt at threatening me, or cajoling me, or…”

“I don’t think there’s much point in either option. Am I wrong?”

Loki cocked his head a fraction to the side. “No. But you might at least try. I could use the entertainment.”

She had admirable control over her expression, but she was not Romanov. “Sorry you’re bored. How long?”

“If you know me,” Loki said casually, “you know how this is likely to end. Why don’t you answer a few of _my_ questions and perhaps I will consider letting you go.”

“First wrong move you make,” the woman said, voice a little colder, “and this box gets dropped forty-thousand feet. I hear Thor survived a fall like that. Can you?”

Loki was not certain. But that did answer one question. “Ah,” he said. “So we _are_ in the air.”

She did not show frustration, if she felt it. “How about you answer my first question, and maybe I’ll listen to yours.” Loki felt his lips twitch. He wondered how long it would take Steve and Thor to track him to this plane – more or less time than it took him to draw on enough magic to free himself?

“Ah, very well,” he said, almost tempted to shrug. “I assume you are asking when I came back _after_ the incident with the Chitauri? I _could_ give you a detailed account of my travels, but I doubt you would understand half of the names involved.” He gave her his best charming smile, touched with just a little teeth. She did not look impressed. Brave woman.

“You assume correctly,” she said.

“I did not keep track of the exact date. Perhaps…oh. Four years or so? My, how the time flies.” Loki half closed his eyes as though reminiscing, and caught the very brief flash of surprise on her face. She hadn’t expected that answer. The list of possibilities narrowed further.

“And what is the nature of your interest in HYDRA?”

Loki blinked and felt his eyebrows twitch up. He did not try to control the expression, let her see it though no doubt she would doubt its authenticity. “Is _that_ what this is about? I believe I made the nature of my… _interest…_ clear.” This woman was not of HYDRA, he did not think. Rivals of theirs? Allies?

“Maybe you can make it a little more obvious for me?”

“I was not overfond of them.” Loki let his teeth flash, just briefly. “I do not tend to tolerate those I am not fond of for long. I am not _precisely_ known for my patience.” She didn’t react to the implied threat, either, and he let his expression ease. “But come. You mentioned a willingness to indulge my own curiosity.”

“I might’ve said something like that.”

“I am curious, then…who is leading SHIELD with Director Fury dead?”

She did not manage to keep her reaction to that controlled, slight though it was. Widening of the eyes, a slight jerk of the head, tensing of her shoulders. Loki smiled. For a stab in the dark… _well done, Loki._ “Very interesting,” he said mildly. “A pleasure to meet you, Agent. I had wondered how defunct your organization really was.”

“That’s a pretty big assumption,” she said, recovering admirably. “I’m as likely to know the answer to that question as you are. Maybe less.”

“Don’t lie to a liar, darling,” Loki said, letting his voice drop to a purr. “It will not get you very far.”

“What am I supposed to be lying about?” She said, still trying to recover things. Brave _and_ stubborn. Loki could almost respect SHIELD’s choices.

“ _That’s enough, Agent Morse,_ ” Loki heard in a tinny, vaguely familiar voice. Probably a device she was wearing. “ _I’m coming in._ ” Agent Morse, Loki thought. Ah – that answered the question of familiarity. He wondered if she knew he knew her name.

“Agent Barbara Morse?” He asked politely, in case she did not. “Your ex-husband sends his regards. Or, well, I assume.”

She gave him a sharp look and then turned away from him without responding as though it would keep him from hearing. “Sir, are you sure that’s-“

The lock on the door clicked and Loki looked toward it, arranging his features into polite interest. “Wise?” said that same, vaguely familiar voice. “No, probably not. But this is a little _personal._ ”

Loki blinked. It took him a moment to place the man standing in the doorway, staring at him with _fierce_ hatred. When he did have it, he kept his face politely interested and cocked his head to the side, though it was…a bit of an effort. That _was_ a surprise. “Am I supposed to recognize you?”

The man’s nostrils pinched. “I wondered if you’d need a reminder,” he said coldly. “So I brought _this._ ” He stepped the rest of the way inside and hefted the weapon he’d shot Loki with on the helicarrier, pointing it at Loki’s head. “Jog your memory, Loki?”

“Yes, actually,” Loki said. He let his lips curve into a smile but kept his eyes on the barrel of the Destroyer-salvaged weapon. He knew what that fire could do, even if his recollection suggested it was weaker than the undiluted power of the Destroyer itself. “Didn’t I kill you?”

“You tried.” The man’s voice was cold. “Agent Morse? You can step out. I can handle this.”

“Can you?” Loki asked. By the look on Morse’s face, she wanted to express a similar opinion.

“Go ahead,” the man he had _definitely_ killed said. “I’d just love an excuse to drop you out of this plane.” Loki sat back. After a moment, Morse stepped out and closed the door with a definite click. He and the man, whose name Loki could not for the life of him remember, stared at each other for several moments.

“Ah,” Loki said. “I think I have it. Your name – Philip, was it? I am afraid I still can’t recall the surname.” Loki summoned his best expression of false apology. “I do not believe we were ever properly introduced.”

“Coulson, please,” the man said flatly. “I try to avoid being on a first name basis with psychopaths.” He did not lower the weapon. “I want a straight answer as to what you’re doing on this planet.”

“I am curious,” Loki said, as though he hadn’t heard the question. “How _did_ you survive? I am _certain_ I put that blade through your heart.” He knew Steve would disapprove of the way he was talking right now, but he was not about to grovel and apologize when he had been snatched off the street by these people.

And he _was_ curious.

“Long story,” Coulson said flatly. “And I’m asking the questions right now. What are you doing on this planet, Loki?”

“When you found me, walking to the grocery,” Loki said, and smiled, offering his best imitation of innocence. Coulson did not look convinced. After a moment he stepped closer to Loki, lowering the gun a fraction.

“Couple months ago,” he said, “a whole bunch of HYDRA agents started turning up dead.” Loki arranged his features back into an expression of polite interest.

“How dreadful,” he said mildly. Coulson’s expression only twitched a little, by his eyes.

“Made _my_ work a lot harder. And then, just as I’m about to orchestrate a strike on the center of HYDRA power – bam. Someone else gets there first, kills everyone there, no survivors. Sound familiar?”

“Mmm. Perhaps a little.”

“But some of my scientists pick up a reading, something weird. So we follow it, figuring if there’s a new player on the board we should know, whoever’s taking out HYDRA might be even worse. And you know where that trail ends?”

Loki sat up with slight interest. “So it was _you_ who shot at me in Belgium.” Apparently they had perfected their dose.

“Might’ve been.”

“I do not particularly _like_ being shot at.” Loki flashed his teeth. “And I am not hearing a _thank you_ for dealing with your problem. So very unappreciative.”

“I’d rather have HYDRA than you,” Coulson said bluntly. Loki let his eyes half close and smiled. “I still haven’t heard a straight answer. What are you doing here, and why did you go after HYDRA?” The strain in his voice was audible, if only to a well-trained ear. Loki leaned forward and the man twitched.

“Is it _hard_ to be in here alone with me?” Loki asked. “Looking at the god who killed you, having _just_ seen what I do to my enemies…”

The gun raised to point at his head again. “If I don’t hear an answer in ten seconds.” Loki wove a thread of magic into the lock on his chains, beginning to work at undoing it.

“HYDRA displeased me. I destroyed them. It is really very simple.” If Coulson did not know about Steve’s relationship to Loki, Loki was not inclined to inform him. He had a feeling that would only hurt Steve, which was not an outcome he desired. “As for what I am doing here, perhaps you should find a way of asking your late director.”

Coulson’s eyes narrowed. “Nice try. Director Fury would’ve told me if he knew you were back.”

Loki smiled. “Would he have? Fury was almost as good of a liar as I am. If he believed it would hamper your ability to work…would he tell you?” He saw the doubt, just for a moment before it vanished.

“Try another one,” he said flatly, and powered up the gun. “I’m not going to ask nicely again.”

Right on time, there was a loud _thump_ overhead and Loki felt the plane lurch. Coulson looked sharply up, and Loki smiled. “I believe you have a visitor.”

Coulson looked at him and then turned his head away. “May, report,” he said.

“Something heavy just hit us. I’m trying to get a look at – huh.”

“What,” Coulson said. Loki sat back.

“It’s Thor. And there’s a plane hailing us too.”

Shorter than he’d expected. “You may wish to see to that,” Loki said mildly. Coulson glared at him.

“We’re not done,” he said, and exited. Loki sat back, rolling his shoulders. He could sit here and wait for Thor – and possibly Steve, it sounded like? – to argue for his release. Or he could do something more interesting. The lock on his ankles clicked open, and a moment later he slipped free of the chains holding his wrists. Another small burst of his gathered power to place an illusion of himself in front of the cameras and shield himself from sight and he could slip over to the door and let himself out into the hallway.

Cocking his head to listen to the hum of the airplane’s inner workings, he moved toward the aft of the plane. He found himself standing, eventually, in front of what looked like a glass wall, a young woman inside moving back and forth with purpose. It took him a moment to realize that she was holding a small vial of dark red liquid.

His blood, Loki thought. Well, that wouldn’t do at all.

He opened the doors with a touch and when the woman turned toward them he dropped the spell keeping him unnoticed. Her eyes widened and she started with a very small squeak.

Loki held out a hand. “I’ll take that vial you are holding, if you please. I believe it is mine.”

The woman took a step back and glanced toward the camera in the corner, and then toward a gun lying on the table near to Loki’s left. Loki gave her a polite smile. “I wouldn’t recommend trying anything,” he said. “I am a good deal faster than you.”

She drew herself up and closed her fist more tightly around the vial of blood. “I’m not giving you anything.”

Loki sighed. “Brave words. May I ask your name?”

Silence. Loki took a step toward her and she tried to step back again, but she’d cornered herself against the counter. He frowned and settled back. “I do not want to threaten you,” he said, “but I really cannot permit you to have my blood.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why is that?”

Loki examined her, and then the space he was standing in. He recognized some of the equipment. “You are a scientist, hm?” She didn’t answer, and Loki nodded thoughtfully. “Suffice to say that I am not inclined to be studied. Give it to me.”

He felt the prickle on the back of his neck of someone else approaching. “Step away from her,” said an unfamiliar voice. Loki glanced over his shoulder, very briefly. Another woman, holding herself in a posture he might not recognize exactly but which was clearly for battle. Loki sighed out through his nose.

“This is all very tiresome,” he said mildly, turning and raising his hands palm up. The new arrival did not relax.

“Simmons, are you all right?” she asked.

“Fine,” the scientist said, though her voice wobbled a little. The new arrival looked at him with _passionate_ dislike, Loki noticed. He wondered why, mostly idly. There were any number of reasons a SHIELD agent might hold personal animosity toward him. He offered her a smile nonetheless.

“Merely seeking the return of what is mine,” Loki said. “This would all be _much_ simpler if…Simmons, is it?...would simply hand it over.”

“Not a chance,” said the other woman. “Why don’t you let Simmons walk out of there and I won’t hurt you.” She sounded sincere, too. Loki was almost tempted to test her and see what happened. Steve would most certainly not approve, however, and after he’d so graciously come looking for Loki he did not want to disappoint him.

“Ah, very well,” Loki said with a sigh. He had enough magic to slip the vial out of Simmons’ hand as she hurried past him, trying to give him a wide berth. He slipped it into his pocket with a touch of sleight of hand. She didn’t notice until the door had closed behind her, and then her face flushed angrily.

“You – May, he got it from me!”

Loki smiled at them both, and then stepped forward. The woman who must be May dropped lower, settling into her stance. “Don’t come any closer,” she said. “Stay right there.”

Loki settled back on his heels. “Very well. I am curious – is it you attempting to suppress my magic?” He addressed the question at Simmons, who looked like she was trying to hide her pride.

“Fitz helped,” she said. “I isolated the frequency on the-” May glanced at her, and she stopped talking.

“Fitz,” Loki said. “Another? How many of you _are_ there?”

Simmons drew herself up. “Enough.”

Loki almost felt sorry for them.

“So,” said a new voice – also female. “ _This_ is the guy who killed Coulson and wrecked New York?” Just a little younger than Simmons, perhaps, Loki judged. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were narrowed in his direction. _Such loyalty this little man commands,_ Loki thought idly. He gave her a smile as well, sketched a very slight bow.

“Charmed, I am sure, Lady…”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you talk to her,” Simmons said sharply.

“It’s fine,” the new arrival said. “Skye.” She did not look impressed. Loki was almost insulted, but he supposed he _was_ a bit disheveled.

“What are you all doing down here?” A new voice, male this time. Loki had begun to wonder. “Coulson is having an argument with Thor and Captain America _on our Bus!_ ”

May looked at him. Loki smiled at her before reshielding himself from sight.

In the chaos and shouting that ensued, he slipped out and ascended the stairs, following his sense of the plane’s layout toward the center. Once he got close enough, he could hear Thor’s voice and followed that.

“-brother is not yours to handle,” Thor was saying hotly. “You were not informed because it was not your decision to make. I am sorry that you are upset-”

“Thor,” Steve interrupted, his voice lower though Loki could hear the anger underneath that gave him just a little thrill. Thor quieted with a huff and Steve went on. “Agent Coulson. I _am_ sorry you weren’t made aware of…changing conditions. But Loki _is_ in Avengers custody and has been for several years without incident.”

“Without incident? Are you calling the massacre of several _hundred_ HYDRA agents _not an incident?_ ” Loki slipped into the room in which they were arguing and settled himself on a couch to listen. Loki tried not to take too much satisfaction in the way Thor was glowering at Coulson.

“That was-” Steve looked distinctly uncomfortable. “There were…extenuating circumstances. It’s being dealt with. Regardless, _kidnapping-_ “

“I _apprehended_ a dangerous war criminal _walking down the sidewalk_ in the city he destroyed,” Coulson said. “You’re telling me he’s in Avengers custody – it didn’t look like he was in _anyone’s_ custody.”

“You should have called us,” Thor said. “Called _me._ He is _my_ brother.”

“You people aren’t supposed to know that I’m alive,” Coulson said. “We kept that secret for a reason-”

“What reason,” Steve demanded. “Don’t you think Tony has a right to know? Or Clint? Or Natasha?” He shook his head sharply. “But that’s not the point. The point is that we’re here to retrieve Loki and that’s it.”

“Do the two of you realize how suspicious this sounds? You just _happen_ to show up right on time to spring Loki, before he answers a single one of my questions-”

“Sir.” May strode up the hallway Loki had used, her expression tight. “We have a problem.” Loki leaned back, trying not to smile. “Loki got out of the interrogation room somehow. He cornered Simmons in the lab and then vanished. He could be anywhere on this plane. Or nowhere, remember the trick he pulled in Belgium?”

Thor’s expression tightened and Steve looked like he wanted to bury his face in his hands. Coulson turned on both of them, looking furious. “You see? This is _exactly-_ “

“I haven’t gone so far, Agent May,” Loki said mildly, letting go of his invisibility. “I simply wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”

Thor’s expression spasmed between relief and a look like he wanted to laugh. Steve gave Loki a witheringly disapproving look that only…half doused Loki’s pleasure at the look on Coulson’s face. May looked like she wanted to kick him in the head. Loki stood fluidly and moved out of reach. “I _cornered_ your charming scientist, as you put it, in order to retrieve something that belongs to me. It allowed me to meet a fair percentage of your delightful team, as well.” He smiled amiably at Coulson.

“Something that belongs to you?” Steve asked, frowning. Loki pulled out the vial of blood and held it out. Steve’s face pinched and he turned back to Coulson. “Planning on doing some experiments with that?” He asked, voice a little dangerous. Loki tried not to be pleased.

“SHIELD draws blood from all its prisoners. It’s a matter of procedure, particularly for those with…augmented abilities.” Coulson did not look pleased, but he was beginning to look harried as well. “I’m not the bad guy here, Captain Rogers.”

“Then prove it,” Steve said flatly. “Hand Loki over to us. Any _relevant_ intel you need, you can call and ask. You know where to find us.”

“Hold on,” said a voice behind Loki. “You’re the _Avengers._ And you’re storming in here for a custody battle over the guy who _killed_ Coulson? Aren’t we all on the same side?” Skye, Loki recognized. She had a gun, now, and was pointing it at him with unwavering aim. Loki would have smiled at her, but he suspected Steve would be upset if she shot him.

“All I want,” Coulson said, voice clearly strained, “is a straight answer as to what that stunt with HYDRA was, because it sure as hell made you look like a threat.”

Loki considered. He glanced at Steve, who looked back at him, expression a little stricken. “That is not a question I would be able to answer to your satisfaction,” he said finally. “I doubt you would accept the truth.”

“Try me,” Coulson said.

“No.” Loki cocked his head to the side. “Would it suffice if I swore on my own magic that I do not intend to do your realm harm?”

Coulson seemed to be struggling with that. “Do not _intend_.”

Loki shrugged. “It is the best I can do.”

“Agent Coulson,” Steve said, stepping in, close enough that Loki could feel him at his back. “The Avengers have already vouched for Loki’s good behavior. Like I said. If you need any relevant intel, _ask._ ”

Coulson looked like he was trying not to grind his teeth but also like he knew he was backed into a corner. “If we are quite done, then,” Loki murmured.

Agent May was giving him a look that had Loki tempted to make a sign against the evil eye. Skye looked positively affronted. “I guess we are,” Coulson said finally, very flatly. Loki smiled pleasantly at him.

“Excellent. It has been a _pleasure,_ but, well…”

“Loki,” Thor said reproachfully. Loki smiled innocently at him as well. Thor shook his head and turned to the gathering of Coulson’s merry band. “Steve and I are sorry for the inconvenience we may have caused. If there is anything I may do to aid you, you need only ask, and I am sure Steve would say the same.”

“I’d be happy to help,” Steve said, though he gave Coulson one last hard look before looking toward the others. Miss Simmons, Loki noticed, was looking at Thor like she might swoon. Loki kept himself from commenting, but only narrowly.

“I’ll let you know if something comes up,” Coulson said, only a little grudging to Loki’s ear. He paused, tempted to add something.

“Let’s go,” Steve said, taking his arm and giving him just a little tug toward the exit, giving him a warning look. Loki paused a moment longer before following with him. Steve stopped at the stairs, however, and looked at Loki for a moment.

“That’s it?” The young woman Skye sounded slightly incredulous. “You’re just going to let him walk off?”

“Do _you_ want to start a fight with Thor and Captain America,” asked a tall, solidly built man Loki did not recognize. The young woman made a face as though she would like to try. Loki suppressed his amusement and looked back at Steve, eyebrows raised.

“Loki,” Steve said lowly, after a moment. “Is there something you’d like to say to Agent Coulson?”

Loki was tempted to say _no?_ in his best innocent voice but he did not want to have Steve angry with him in the way that would provoke. He was not, however, quite able to keep the irony out of his voice when he turned to Coulson and said, “my sincerest apologies for killing you.”

He heard Steve sigh. Coulson’s expression stayed blank. “Get off my plane,” he said.

Steve’s hand on his arm squeezed, hard, and gave him a little tug. Loki didn’t argue, though it was very hard to resist the temptation to get in a last word, especially when he could feel Coulson’s merry band glaring at his back.

He managed to refrain, if only narrowly. He wished someone would appreciate how much effort it cost. Alas, his struggle seemed to go unnoticed.

With the door closed behind them, Steve slumped. “You’re all right?” He asked. “They didn’t…” He looked like he dreaded the answer.

“Entirely unharmed,” Loki said. “Other than slight lingering unpleasantness from being rendered so rudely unconscious.

Steve looked relieved for just a moment before he gave Loki a reproachful look. “Were you _trying_ to antagonize them?”

“Trying? Oh no,” Loki said lightly. “I simply manage without effort.” Steve gave him a look that was both exasperated and plaintive, and Loki sighed, feeling himself deflate a little. “I may have been less courteous than I might have. I do not take altogether kindly to such treatment.”

Steve sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think most people do.” A flash of something, not quite anger, passed over Steve’s face. “I wonder why Nick _didn’t_ mention you to Agent Coulson. And why he didn’t mention Agent Coulson to any of _us._ ”

“I would like to know how he survived,” Loki murmured. “Personally.” The way Steve’s expression twitched made Loki think perhaps he tended to avoid thinking too much about Loki’s personal encounter with the man and Loki decided to move on. Still, the thought nagged at him, troubled him. Many had attempted to conquer death, over the millennia. None had achieved success without an ugly price.

And Coulson _had_ been dead. Unless he was something altogether distant from human, of that Loki was sure.

“Perhaps it was merely expedient,” Loki added in answer to Steve’s question. Steve shook his head and made a face, but it didn’t look quite like disagreement.

“I’ll have to – I wish I could ask him,” Steve said, but something about the way he glanced at Loki made his eyes narrow.

“Director Fury is not so deceased as you allowed me to believe, is he?” Loki asked mildly. Steve’s expression was only a little guilty. Mostly just embarrassed. Loki sighed out through his nose and tried not to be disappointed. (In himself for not catching the lie, or Director Fury for not remaining dead, Loki wasn’t quite sure.) “Hm,” Loki said mildly. “Send my regards, if you get the chance. I’d hate for _him_ to decide to snatch me off the streets.”

Steve looked like he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to sigh. “Loki…”

Loki felt suddenly weary, and gave Steve a crooked smile. “Let us leave here, Captain. I tire of this place, and I do not wish to give Agent May a chance to change her mind about trying to murder me.”

There were questions Steve wanted to ask – probably _do you feel bad about what you did to Agent Coulson?_ among them, but to Loki’s immense relief he did not ask, just leaned in to kiss Loki’s cheek. “All right,” he said, and headed for the cockpit.

It was not a question Loki was sure how to answer. Particularly not with the man in question still living.

This whole incident reminded him, however…he’d grown almost careless. Accustomed to being nearly free. It was an important reminder that he was not. That most of this realm still saw him as its enemy.

Loki could not call that unjust, but the taste of the reminder was still ever so faintly bitter.


End file.
